Hanoi- New floods that have put much of central Vietnam underwater have killed at least 11 people and left three others missing in the past week as water levels in many areas are still rising, disaster officials said Wednesday. In southern Ho Chi Minh City, residents were cleaning up from floods caused by rising tides on the Saigon River that burst through a dike, with hundreds of homes inundated on the outskirts of the commercial capital, local media reported.
In central Vietnam, the historic city of Hue, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its ancient citadel, authorities have evacuated 1,200 people and plan to move 18,000 others as the water level keeps rising, officials said.
"Many streets in Hue City are deep in flood water, up to one metre deep, and no cars or motorbikes can move," said Phan Thanh Hung with the province's flood and storm department.
The fresh floods come less than three weeks after torrential rains and flooding from a tropical storm killed nearly 200 people in central Vietnam.
The new floods have killed one more person in Thua Thien-Hue province since Monday and at least one person remains missing, Hung said, adding that a strong whirlwind also hit a school in the province Tuesday, injuring 22 school children and a teacher.
Reports from central Quang Tri, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces say that the rain has ceased there but the flood water levels at rivers and springs keep rising.
"It's not raining as hard today as yesterday, but water is everywhere and it is still rising," said Tran Van Binh with the flood and storm department of Quang Nam province. "Many districts are inaccessible due to flood waters."
Authorities in the affected provinces are assessing the damage cost of the floods and they fear the death toll will continue to rise, according to Van Phu Chinh, head of the flood and storm department in the central region.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the Saigon River rose to its highest level in 48 years and destroyed 55 sections of the dikes that protect residential areas, according to the English-language Vietnam News.
Hundreds of hectares of farmland and at least 140 homes were underwater by midweek, the paper said, and the city said a least 2.5 billion dollars in funding is needed to dredge canals and secure residential areas from flooding by 2020.
So far this year, floods and storms have killed at least 192 people in Vietnam, including seven people killed in Tropical Storm Lekima in early October and 82 in floods triggered by the storm.
